Candidates fail to file

The Special District Election scheduled for Tuesday, May 16th, will call for a bit of creativity for some voters. A number of the smaller units of government drew no interest from people willing to serve on them. Without a check box to mark, voters will have the option to write someone in or skip that portion of ballots that will be mailed to local residents on April 27th.

Two McKenzie area water districts drew no candidates - the 51-year-old McKenzie Palisades district and the Dearborn district in Rainbow.

The Palisades Water District had openings for one four-year term and one unexpired two-year term. Three four-year terms are on ballots for the Dearborn District.

In the Shangi-La Water District, Todd Thomson filed for Position 4 and Ryan Jagels is on the ballot for Position 5. Both are unopposed for the four-year seats.

In the McKenzie School District candidates are facing off in all four openings on the board. Danna Brownell and Taya Brock both filed for Position 1. Sarah Mackenzie and Kail Harbick are candidates for Position 2, while Max Metcalf and Alyssa Brownlee filed for Position 3. Rounding out the ballot or seats on the school board are Jason Wickizer and Justin Barker. Positions 1, 3, and 5 are all four-year terms. Position 2 is a two-year unexpired post.

Three uncontested seats are up for votes on the McKenzie Fire District Board. Lee Burwell Means and Derek Wing both filed for four-year openings, for Positions 2 and 4 respectively. But no one opted to run for Position 5, which is a two-year unexpired opening.

There are three candidates on the Upper McKenzie Fire Districts ballots. Listed for Position 1 is Shane Kamrath. Steven Keable appears for Position 4 and Jennifer Zirkle filed for Position 5. Position 1 is another unexpired two-year term and the other two are for four-year positions.

Besides the local districts, voters will also be deciding the fate of the renewal of a five-year levy to fund Jail and Youth Services in Lane County. Details of the proposal include levying $0.55 per $1,000 of assessed value. Supporters say passage would not increase the tax rate and is a renewal of a current local option tax that would maintain a minimum of 255 beds in the county jail.

The deadline to register to vote is April 25th. Registration forms must be postmarked or submitted online no later than 11:59:59 to meet the deadline. In addition, people can update their voter registration through 8 p.m. on Election Day and receive a ballot.